There have been many remakes of classic horror movies such as “Halloween”, “Fright night”, “Let me in” and most recently “Evil Dead” . Some remakes can be considered as good as the original or even better, but there are also many disastrous ones too. Some people wonder why it is a good idea to remake someone else’s vision, often these movies don’t measure up, yet they continue to be made.
In the past decade, directors have taken on the challenge to recreate the fear and fun that their favorite horror films once generated. This is very hard to do because they are re-imagining and interpreting somebody else’s work. If the interpretations are wrong it can vastly anger the fan base that the directors are trying to please. Blood, gore, cgi and big name actors aren’t enough to please people these days. Unfortunately the majority of remakes do not live up to the fans expectations.
Directors like Michael Bay have tried their hand at a remake butfail to make an experience that will be enjoyable for viewers. DirectorMichael Bay has made remakes of “Nightmare on Elm Street”, “Friday the 13th” and “Texas chainsaw massacre”, all complete and total failures. Bay’s special effects and design techniques are phenomenal but his movies lack heavily in plot and character development. This has become the norm for most remakes and an even bigger problem for then industry. Seriously though, there have been so many remakes of "Texas Chainsaw Massacre".Michael Bay why must you ruin or beloved horroricons with your tomfoolery?
If we all concentrate hard enough, we can forget this disaster!
Can the film industry continue to make these kind of films? The answer unfortunately is yes.These films rely on heavy advertising. Promotional advertising such as billboard posters, free merchandise and opportunities to meet and greet stars, make horror films n,o matter how bad, a breeze to make money off of. Even Michael Bay can’t complain.
Some of the highest ranked horror movies of all time did not net a big name company to sell it to the public. Alfred Hitchcock was one of the first people to produce an independent slasher film, the film was called “Psycho”. It’s true that he tried gimmicks such as buying every copy of the book version and denying access to people who were late to see the movie. At least Hitchcock was creative. Movies like the original “Friday the 13th”, “Nightmare on Elm street” and “Halloween” didn’t need a high budget to be good. They only needed love and care.
Not all horror movie remakes are bad. A remake of the 1985 vampire flick“Fright Night” came out in 2011. The movie might not have been as good as the original, but it was just as entertaining and scary as the original. “Fright night” made vampires scary again no thanks to Stephenie Meyer.
The 1982 remake of the original 1951 movie “The Thing” is one of the few horror movies to do even better than it’s original. The second remake that came out in 2011 was atrocious which made the first remake even better, but the 80’s movie was one of the most disturbing movies of it’s time. Especially during a scene that has man’s stomach opening up into a large shark mouth. It was a marvel even for the 80’s
Recently a remake of the classic movie “Evil Dead” was released. This was definitely not a Oscar winning movie nor was it a family film, but fans will definitely find it enjoyable instead of just another kick to face. The film’s director Fede Alverez chose not to use CGI because he thought it would hurt the film, he was totally right in making this decision. The actors spent more time and effort on performing their roles than they did in the make-up department. Although the script could have been better about avoiding cliches and plot holes, the film holds up with it’s incredibly shocking plot twists and the creepy portrayal of a possessed drug addict played by Jane Levy.
These are just examples of new horror movie remakes that bring hope to the industry and total nostalgia. Yes, there are definitely many bad horror remakes but every genre of movie makes it’s mistakes. It is important to know that a remake is not the original movie and that it’s somebody else’s interpretation.
